Paris Saint-Germain are reportedly ready to escalate tensions with Real Madrid as they consider making a formal complaint to FIFA over their pursuit of Kylian Mbappe.
Real Madrid have long made no secret of their desire to make Mbappe the new jewel in their attack.
Mbappe is at war with PSG as he refuses to take up the option of a contract extension, meaning he is set to be a free agent at the end of this season.
But now the Telegraph are reporting that the French club are considering whether Real Madrid’s conduct – PSG are said to be convinced that their player already has an agreement in place to join them – merits a formal complaint to FIFA.
Should Mbappe join Real Madrid as a free agent next summer there has been talk of him landing a huge signing-on fee in the region of £138million.
The future of Kylian Mbappe remains one of the biggest talking points in world football
It has been claimed that PSG could make a formal complaint against Real Madrid over their belief that the Spanish giants already have an agreement in place to sign Mbappe
Crucially, were Real Madrid and Mbappe to have already ironed out an agreement, that would fall foul of FIFA’s rules.
They would be in breach of approaching a player without being given the permission of his current team, in this case PSG.
PSG are reportedly even more convinced something is afoot with Real Madrid given Mbappe refused to even speak to Saudi side Al-Hilal, after they had a world record £259m bid accepted by the French champions.
Mbappe signed a new deal with PSG last summer, with the 24-year-old appearing to commit his future to the club until 2025.
While it was announced as a three-year contract, the agreement was for an initial two years with Mbappe having the option on whether to extend into an extra season.
A midnight deadline for Monday night passed without him signing the extension, meaning he is out of contract from 2024.
PSG are determined not to lose him for nothing and so question marks now swirl as to whether Mbappe will dig in in order to walk out on a free in 12 months’ time.
There has been talk of a loan to Liverpool – which has since been rubbished by boss Jurgen Klopp – and reports in Spain have linked Barcelona.
Mbappe failed to take up the option to extend his contract to keep him at PSG until 2025
It remains to be seen if an offer he deems suitable will land this summer so that PSG get a fee
Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal had a world-record £259m bid for Mbappe accepted by PSG last week (pictured: Al-Hilal president Fahad bin Nafel, right, with new signing Kalidou Koulibaly)
Chelsea fans were questioning if they are in the mix for the Frenchman, who scored a hat-trick in the most recent World Cup final, when Enzo Fernandez made a comment about him during a trophy lift in pre-season.
PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi is determined not to allow their prize asset to leave the club for nothing next summer and so all of those clubs are now mulling over if they must strike now for a fee or risk the bidding war in a year’s time.
‘My position is very clear,’ Al-Khelaifi said earlier this month. ‘I don’t want to repeat it every time: if Kylian wants to stay, we want him to stay. But he needs to sign a new contract.
‘We don’t want to lose the best player in the world for free, we can’t do that. This is a French club.
‘He said he would never leave for free. If he changes his mind today, it’s not my fault. We don’t want to lose the best player in the world for free, that’s very clear.’
